Are you an emotional bully? Perhaps you suspect you may be, but are not quite sure. We often go through life with blinders on, very aware of what others are doing, seeing “clearly” what motivates their behavior, while not clearly seeing our own. Instead, we justify and excuse in ourselves the very same behavior we would never tolerate in others. That being the all-too-frequent case, the following characteristics should provide insight into what may have largely been ignored until now.

This Thursday, we will celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States. The very first nationwide proclamation of a day of Prayer and Thanksgiving was made by George Washington in 1789. Since then, Thanksgiving has morphed into a different kind of observance, one punctuated by football, turkey and day-after mega sales. Here are 5 ways to add fun and meaning to your holiday observances.

Gratitude, it turns out, is no small issue. It can be life-changing, radically altering the way we see and interpret life. Gratitude is the electricity that ignites happiness. It is the breeze that lifts it. It is the context that allows it. This post is my attempt at enlarging the list of things we are grateful for, at reducing what we habitually take for granted and thereby providing some lift and electricity to our happiness. So take a look below at some atypical, unconventional things on my gratitude list.

Gratitude, like other attitudinal traits, takes practice. It requires consistent reprogramming of your brain until it becomes a natural, automatic response to life’s circumstances. It is at that point that gratitude ceases to be a thing practiced, and starts to be a natural expression of an inner condition of the soul.

I’ve collected 5 of the scariest words I know. These are words that are deadlier than they seem. Their poison infects the mind and turns the heart cold and fragile. So approach with caution and use sparingly. Remember, poison taken in small enough doses builds immunity to its lethal toxicity. But if taken in larger doses will kill you. So will these words.

Are you a goal-setting flunky? A New Years Resolution drop-out? Have you set goals time and time again only to summarily fail to reach them? All of them? Well, the good news is that you didn’t waist your time trying. You even likely improved your life, becoming a subtly better person, perhaps without even realizing it. The very act of setting and pursuing goals can actually make you a better human being. Click on in to see how!

Happiness is the natural result of habitually living and thinking in certain ways. As a matter of fact, happiness is something that is quite predictable for almost all people as we develop certain habits of thought, belief, action and character. Some people are unhappy. Others are mildly or moderately happy. Some are even pretty happy. The following, however, are those principles that produce highly happy people.

We are not merely physical. We are emotional and intellectual as well. We are also spiritual. As such, to neglect the spiritual side of our lives is to neglect a foundational part of who we are at the most fundamental level. To build relationships ignoring that vital part of our natures is to create a relationship that hobbles on one leg. Spiritual intimacy adds depth to our most cherished relationships.

Are you a Personal Development Junkie? Do you surf the web in search of your next high, the next blog with the newest twist or next fix to your personal development needs? There is a lot to choose from. Some are decent. Most fall somewhere below average. Some may be doing you more harm than good. Check out the 5 signs personal development blogs may be damaging your life.

Intolerance has a bad reputation. And with good reason too. Still, I’m not so sure it should be thrown out with the bathwater. The thing is I’m actually an advocate for having a good healthy dose of it. Surprised? Keep reading. I think you’ll agree with me. You see, the problem with intolerance is not so much the intolerance per se as much as what our intolerance is directed at.

I’m convinced that each of us has a superhero waiting to be let loose no matter where we are or who we identify with at this particular moment in our lives. I believe you are a superhero, even if the hero part hasn’t been fully identified or coaxed from its inner lair. It’s our job to discover how to release the powers already there, dormant perhaps, but waiting to be discovered, developed and unleashed.

There are times when the right thing to do is not the happy thing to do, at least not in the short-run. At such moments, a moral people have to decide what’s most important. More short-term happiness or more long-term decency? To protect the one at the expense of the other is a sacrifice with far reaching consequences.